Why is the Super Bowl in Las Vegas? NFL's history of gambling concerns erased as Sin City joins rotation

Kyle Irving

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Why is the Super Bowl in Las Vegas? NFL's history of gambling concerns erased as Sin City joins rotation image

Super Bowl 58 is headed to Las Vegas.

The matchup between the Chiefs and 49ers is set to take place at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev., roughly three miles away from the Strip.

For ages, the NFL tried to avoid any overlap between the Super Bowl and Las Vegas, but with the recent progress made with sports betting across the United States, the league has finally given in.

Why is the Super Bowl in Las Vegas? The Sporting News takes a closer look below.

MORE: Expert model projects 49ers will beat Chiefs in Super Bowl 58

How many times has the Super Bowl been in Las Vegas?

For the first time in NFL history, the Super Bowl will be played in Las Vegas in 2024.

The NFL has long avoided the Sin City as a destination to keep gambling separate from football. With sports betting now legal in 38 out of the 50 United States, the NFL has partnered with several sportsbooks like MGM, Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings, to name a few.

The combination of those facts has led to the inevitable, as one of the biggest annual sporting events heads to one of the most popular destinations in the country.

The NFL is still doing its best to keep the two participating teams away from all the gambling action, though.

"The rules are no different for the participating teams' players and other personnel as they would be for any other game: when on business, there is no gambling, whether it be sports gambling or otherwise," Jeff Miller, the NFL executive VP of communications, public affairs and policy, told reporters ahead of the big game.

"Any player, coach, personnel, yours truly, who would be caught or identified gambling at a casino would be eligible for the disciplinary process, and that would be addressed in the normal course of discipline as we would any player or other personnel who there was evidence that was violating the rules around gambling."

To help avoid any potential distractions, both teams are staying 25 miles away from the Las Vegas Strip.

How are Super Bowl sites chosen?

The NFL has changed the way it selects the site for each Super Bowl. There used to be a process where cities would make a bid to host the big game and the league would narrow down the hopefuls to a couple of finalists. Then, those finalists would submit an official proposal.

Now, the NFL contacts select venues and requests they put together a proposal for the Super Bowl to be played at their stadium. Once the proposals are collected, the owners collectively vote on the best location offered.

MORE: Cheapest and most expensive Super Bowl tickets for Chiefs-49ers

There are a few conditions the NFL has required for a location to be deemed eligible to host the Super Bowl. Here are some examples:

  • A market that hosts an NFL team
  • Minimum 70,000 seating capacity
  • Average gameday temperature of at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Dome (for stadiums that don't meet the prior requirement)
  • Practice space of equal and comparable quality for both teams
  • Hotel spaces equaling 35 percent of the stadium's capacity
  • Space for the Gameday Experience, NFL Experience

Previous Super Bowl locations, results

Super Bowl Date Winner Score Loser Location
1 1/15/1967 Green Bay Packers 35-10 Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles)
2 1/14/1968 Green Bay Packers 33-14 Oakland Raiders Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.)
3 1/12/1969 New York Jets 16-7 Baltimore Colts Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.)
4 1/11/1970 Kansas City Chiefs 23-7 Minnesota Vikings Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, La.)
5 1/17/1971 Baltimore Colts 16-13 Dallas Cowboys Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.)
6 1/16/1972 Dallas Cowboys 24-3 Miami Dolphins Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, La.)
7 1/14/1973 Miami Dolphins 14-7 Washington Redskins Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles)
8 1/13/1974 Miami Dolphins 24-7 Minnesota Vikings Rice Stadium (Houston, Texas)
9 1/12/1975 Pittsburgh Steelers 16-6 Minnesota Vikings Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, La.)
10 1/18/1976 Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17 Dallas Cowboys Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.)
11 1/9/1977 Oakland Raiders 32-14 Minnesota Vikings Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
12 1/15/1978 Dallas Cowboys 27-10 Denver Broncos Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
13 1/21/1979 Pittsburgh Steelers 35-31 Dallas Cowboys Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.)
14 1/20/1980 Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19 Los Angeles Rams Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
15 1/25/1981 Oakland Raiders 27-10 Philadelphia Eagles Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
16 1/24/1982 San Francisco 49ers 26-21 Cincinnati Bengals Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, Mich.)
17 1/30/1983 Washington Redskins 21-17 Miami Dolphins Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
18 1/22/1984 Los Angeles Raiders 38-9 Washington Redskins Tampa Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
19 1/20/1985 San Francisco 49ers 38-16 Miami Dolphins Stanford Stadium (Stanford, Calif.)
20 1/26/1986 Chicago Bears 46-10 New England Patriots Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
21 1/25/1987 New York Giants 39-20 Denver Broncos Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
22 1/31/1988 Washington Redskins 42-10 Denver Broncos San Diego-Jack Murphy Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)
23 1/22/1989 San Francisco 49ers 20-16 Cincinnati Bengals Joe Robbie Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
24 1/28/1990 Sans Francisco 49ers 55-10 Denver Broncos Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
25 1/27/1991 New York Giants 20-19 Buffalo Bills Tampa Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
26 1/26/1992 Washington Redskins 37-24 Buffalo Bills Metrodome (Minneapolis)
27 1/31/1993 Dallas Cowboys 52-17 Buffalo Bills Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
28 1/30/1994 Dallas Cowboys 30-13 Buffalo Bills Georgia Dome (Atlanta)
29 1/29/1995 San Francisco 49ers 49-26 San Diego Chargers Joe Robbie Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
30 1/28/1996 Dallas Cowboys 27-17 Pittsburgh Steelers Sun Devil Stadium (Tempe, Ariz.)
31 1/26/1997 Green Bay Packers 35-21 New England Patriots Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
32 1/25/1998 Denver Broncos 31-24 Green Bay Packers Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego, CA)
33 1/31/1999 Denver Broncos 34-19 Atlanta Falcons Pro Player Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
34 1/30/2000 St. Louis Rams 23-16 Tennessee Titans Georgia Dome (Atlanta)
35 1/28/2001 Baltimore Ravens 34-7 New York Giants Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
36 2/3/2002 New England Patriots 20-17 St. Louis Rams Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
37 1/26/2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-21 Oakland Raiders Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)
38 2/1/2004 New England Patriots 32-29 Carolina Panthers Reliant Stadium (Houston)
39 2/6/2005 New England Patriots 24-21 Philadelphia Eagles Alltel Stadium (Jacksonville, Fla.)
40 2/5/2006 Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 Seattle Seahawks Ford Field (Detroit)
41 2/4/2007 Indianapolis Colts 29-17 Chicago Bears Dolphin Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
42 2/3/2008 New York Giants 17-14 New England Patriots University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
43 2/1/2009 Pittsburgh Steelers 27-23 Arizona Cardinals Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
44 2/7/2010 New Orleans Saints 31-17 Indianapolis Colts Sun Life Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
45 2/6/2011 Green Bay Packers 31-25 Pittsburgh Steelers Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
46 2/5/2012 New York Giants 21-17 New England Patriots Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
47 2/3/2013 Baltimore Ravens 34-31 San Francisco 49ers Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
48 2/2/2014 Seattle Seahawks 43-8 Denver Broncos MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.)
49 2/1/2015 New England Patriots 28-24 Seattle Seahawks University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
50 2/7/2016 Denver Broncos 24-10 Carolina Panthers Levi's Stadium (San Francisco, Calif.)
51 2/5/2017 New England Patriots 34-28 Atlanta Falcons NRG Stadium (Houston)
52 2/4/2018 Philadelphia Eagles 41-33 New England Patriots U.S. Bank Stadium (Minneapolis)
53 2/3/2019 New England Patriots 13-3 Los Angeles Rams Mercedes-Benz Stadium (New Orleans, La.)
54 2/2/2020 Kansas City Chiefs 31-20 San Francisco 49ers Miami Gardens, (Miami, Fla.)
55 2/7/2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9 Kansas City Chiefs Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
56 2/13/2022 Los Angeles Rams 23-20 Cincinnati Bengals SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, Calif.)
57 2/12/2023 Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 Philadelphia Eagles State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.